Weak spots for car-sharing in The Netherlands? The geography of socio-technical regimes and the adoption of niche innovations

Toon Meelen,Koen Frenken,Stephan Hobrink

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2019.01.023

Toon Meelen, Koen Frenken + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.01.023

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Abstract

A geographical analysis of sustainability transitions allows one to better understand the emergence and upscaling of sustainable innovations. We first theorize about the spatial heterogeneity of regime, niche and landscape within the Multi-Level Perspective and then apply our framework to car-sharing adoption across all Dutch neighbourhoods. We distinguish between business-to-consumer and peer-to-peer car-sharing, which differ in terms of business model and greenhouse gas reducing impacts. For these two innovations, we demonstrate how the relation between niche innovation and the socio-technical regime of private car ownership affects adoption patterns. Our study can be read as a plea for full-fledged geographical analysis of sustainability transitions equally emphasizing the spatial heterogeneity of niche, regime and landscape.

Highlights

In the face of climate change, academic interest in possible pathways to sustainable consumption and production has increased rapidly over the past decade
Before turning to the results of our statistical analysis, we provide some historical context about the growth of car-sharing in The Netherlands
The geography of sustainability transitions is a rapidly emerging topic of scientific interest [3,5]. We applied this framework to the study of car-sharing against the background of the current regime of private car ownership

Summary

Introduction

In the face of climate change, academic interest in possible pathways to sustainable consumption and production has increased rapidly over the past decade. There is a widespread consensus that a sustainable economy will require major socio-technical transitions in the technologies and practices currently employed across the globe. Such transitions will not automatically unfold evenly when sustainable alternatives are present in specific niches. One can observe places where innovations pop up and alternatives are tried out, and other places where the current regime is strictly maintained and sometimes even strengthened These differences stem from local processes of learning and politicking, which in some contexts may favour niche developments while in other contexts support the continuation of the regime technology. The popularity of solar panels in Germany differs considerably across regions, which has been attributed to differences in local user activity and subsequent policy responses at different spatial scales [4]

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